Providing an optimum seating arrangement for an aircraft is difficult and complex, requiring that passenger comfort be weighed against the generally opposing goal of maximizing aircraft seating capacity. Generally, the more spacious and comfortable a seat, the higher the fare an airline can charge for the seat, but the fewer number of seats that can be provided in the limited confines of the aircraft.
A traditional aircraft seat includes a base portion upon which a passenger sits and a seatback against which a passenger leans back. The seatback is typically adjustable to move between a generally upright “takeoff and landing position” and a slightly reclined “traveling” position. Aircraft seats are typically arranged side-by-side in rows transverse to the longitudinal direction of the aircraft with the seats facing forward in the direction of travel. The seat rows are typically spaced apart from one another so that the seats have a pitch between 27 and 78 inches in commercial aircraft to provide legroom between the rows. Longitudinal aisles may be provided that divide the seats into sections. For example, the seating arrangement may include two aisles that divide the seating arrangement into a center section and two side sections to provide improved ingress and egress to the rows and access to emergency exits.
To maximize profit, airlines often attempt to entice passengers to pay a higher fare for upgraded or premium seating. For example, a premium seat may be wider and recline further than a standard fare seat and may be part of a seating arrangement that provides additional legroom. Some aircraft are divided into different classes, with each class having a different level of seating space and comfort. For example, an aircraft may have a higher fare “first class” section near the front of the plane and a lower fare “coach” section at the rear of the plane.
In recent years, seats have been developed that are convertible between a “takeoff and landing” position to a “lie-flat” sleeping position to allow the seats to be used as “beds.” These seats have proven popular on long haul and international flights where a passenger may desire to sleep aboard the aircraft. While such lie-flat seating provides additional comforts to passengers, thereby allowing airlines to charge higher fares, they require additional space, which makes it difficult to provide such seats in large quantity. For example, a typically angled lie-flat seating arrangement has a seat pitch of about 58 to 63 inches, which is significantly more than seating typical of coach class which range from 27 to 34 inches. Angled lie-flat seating places one passenger's head over the feet of the passenger directly behind him or her. Non-angled lie-flat seating will typically have a pitch of 76 to 82 inches and will often rely on an alternative arrangement of seats to facilitate efficient utilization of space in the aircraft.
Several attempts have been made to provide fully reclinable, lie-flat, or sleeper seat seating arrangements that efficiently utilize the limited aircraft cabin space. Some arrangements have attempted to angle the seats in a horizontal plane in a “chevron” style in an attempt to increase seating density while providing lie-flat seating.
Others have attempted to overlap portions of the seats vertically so that a passenger's feet are placed underneath the head of another passenger of a seat in front. For example, seats may be provided that recline at an angle so that the feet of a passenger in a rearward seat extend below the head of another passenger reclined in a seat in the row in front. Others have provided back-to-back seating in which seats are placed back-to-back, lengthwise and alternate seats are placed substantially above the passageway floor and the remaining seats below the passageway floor, so that the back of the upper seat recline over the back of the adjacent lower seat.
While fit for their intended purposes, the prior art arrangements are difficult to implement in a standard aircraft. Furthermore, they do not provide the level of comfort that a generally horizontal lie flat seat provides. In addition, in some prior art arrangements the head of a passenger is covered by the seat of another passenger, which is generally undesirable. Many of the prior art arrangements also do not provide sufficient space savings to allow for the installation of a sufficient number of seats to make the arrangement cost effective.